Clear, golden color and a nice white head. Nose Is sweet, caramel, yeasty, Belgian. Solid Triple, little boozy Finish .

Clear, golden color and a nice white head . Cinnamonn nose, spicy, hoppy. Fist impression: Xmas spices, Woodruff and shortbread/Spekulatius, Tonka beans.decent hoppy.

330ml bottle. Opalescent, copper-ish, amber colour with huge, frothy, osteoporosing, minimally lacing, white head. Fruity, resinous, minimally piney, hoppy aroma, caramel malty background, hints of grapefruit, mandarine. Taste is mildly bitter, fruity and resinous hoppy, sweet-ish, caramel malty background, hints of grapefruit, mandarine. Watery texture, dry palate, medium, prickly carbonation. Refreshing, drinkable - very nice.

Seaweed-flavoured (!) imperial stout by Atrium, created for Malt Attacks, a lovely craft beer shop in Brussels. Atrium has recently ceased operations, sadly, so I guess this one is my personal farewell to this passionate brewery, who has been at the core of postmodern craft brewing in Belgium for years (injecting it with Latin American exotism like no one did before in Western Europe) and gave me so much pleasure in all that time. I guess it says something about post-Covid beer culture that even a household name like this is being discontinued, who knows which other ones are to follow... But let us cheer up with this funny label - sporting purple wax with sparkles! - and this unusual beer with its odd ingredient. Thick and foamy, very creamy, membrane-lacing, mocha-beige, dense and tiny-bubbled, firm head on a black beer with hazy burgundy edges. Aroma of salmiak (the seaweed, no doubt) upfront, immediately followed by intense coffee grounds and bitter black chocolate, further adorned by ground walnuts, dry salted caramel, black peppercorns, gin, burnt toast, actual dried bladderwort, even a touch of brine, freshly grated nutmeg, cigar ashes, scorched cedar wood, old natural rubber (but this is probably just that seaweed again), burnt blackcurrants, hints of bonfire and pipe tobacco. Dense onset, clear umami but not in the usual 'beef stock cube' way, more salmiak-like again - with this agar-like effect to it, so clearly the seaweed speaking; sweeter notes of old raisins and dried figs sit at its edges, while a certain saltiness creeps up as well, also coming from that seaweed and persisting all the way through, though not in a disturbing way - the Dutch phrase 'zoute drop' is in order here. Carbonation remains soft, accentuating the creaminess and oily thickness of the beer; still guided by the umami and salty flavours of the seaweed, layers of darkness unfold after that, with somewhat sweet caramel but more prominently bitter black chocolate, blackened toast and espresso, the roastiness matching well with these seaweed flavours. Spicy elements pop up here and there - black pepper, nutmeg - before wormwood-bitter hops join in to support not only the herbaceous, spicy side of the seaweed but also the roasted bitterness of the malts and roasted barley, all 'warmed' by gin- to whisky-like alcohol, which remains firmly in place without interfering with the rest of the flavours. A salted caramel- and salmiak-like effect lingers after swallowing, so the seaweed is clearly very prominent here from beginning to end; yet it somehow manages to penetrate the roasty character of the malt bill and the spicy bitterness of the hops in such a way that it complements flavours rather than contrasting with them. I do not know if this is the best Atrium beer I had, but it certainly is a very clever one, if you are open to it. I guess this is goodbye then, and I want to thank Valéry and Paula, both being the sympathetic people that they are, for bringing so much innovation and creativity to the Belgian beer scene in all those years. Your colourful brand, your beers and your bright personalities will be severely missed.

I can appreciate a barley wine on its own but one double barrel aged? Bring it on. This 33 cl bottle came from the nice vendor at Smaakhuis back earlier in the year. Cooler weather recently, time to taste a challenging brew. A tulip glass in place, I make the pour. The body is a dark cola-colored liquid completed by a phenomenal head of parchment foam. I smell dark fruit, bread, malt and booze. I lift the glass and take a drink. Black plums, the red wine barrel, grain, dark cherries, syrup and alcohol. The bourbon is overwhelmed by the vinous presence, not my preferred direction. Still, this is a good barley wine, one to sip. High hopes not quite met.

Dark brown/black colour, brown foam. Nose of roasted malts, coffee, light sweet amaretto notes.